think about ronald reagan. jimmy carter had a lot of great lines in his debate with ronald reagan in the 1980 debate, but ronald reagan kept saying there you go again. in 1984 walter mondale was beating ronald reagan. but reagan said i'm not going to let age be a determining factor, because my opponent is younger than me and less experienced than me. he used humor and well-timed phrases make a big difference in these debates. >> chris, joe raises an interesting point, the same point that matthew dowd raised in a national journal piece. in preparing for the debates, romney and president obama needs to remember that judgments on winning or losing are much more stylistic than substantive. the public isn't interested in getting more detail-specific policy, but in getting pointers about people on stage. when debates have moved in the numbers in the past, it's been result the impressions, mannerisms, style. is it going to be all about style trumping substance? >> he's partly right. he debates especially when you see